waha nui

The HPU International Vocal Ensemble has accepted an invitation to perform in Vienna and Salzburg at Wolfgang Mozart‘s 250th birthday bash in June. Choral music director is Susan Duprey of Aikahi. Susan also took the group to Carnegie Hall in June 2004 for its debut. (There’s a benefit concert at 7 p.m. Friday at First Presbyterian Church) ... Blanche Pope vice principal Ryan Amine is glad for all the help his school got with the stairs and walkways last month from 3Rs and Job Corps volunteers. Now he’s set a new goal: “We’ve gotta build a fence around the new playground equipment for the pre-K kids” ... American Savings Bakery, ah, Bank, at Windward City has brownies for sale. A prudent minimum investment of $5 yields dividends for Castle High’s Project Grad ... Kyle Buddy Sasaoka (Kailua ‘02) made the fall-quarter dean’s list at the University of Washington ... Kahaluu’s storehouse of local black history, Miles Jackson, will speak to the Honolulu NAACP at 1 p.m. Saturday at Harris United Methodist Church on “African Americans’ Contributions & History in Hawaii” ... Kaneohe’s

J. Masagatani

Joshua Masagatani always excelled at speech at Kamehameha. Now he’s doing the same thing at Pacific University in Oregon. He and a partner took first place in Dramatic Duo, and Joshua won another blue ribbon in Poetry at the Clackamas Community College forensics tourney in January. Last month he came in second in the same two categories at a San Diego meet with 60 colleges entered. Then there was a first in after-dinner speaking at Willamette, and the trip to the nationals this month in Florida. Plus he’s joined the school’s Hawaiian Club. So reports proud grandmother Ernesta Masagatani of Kailua ... Amy Wilkinson of Kailua made the fall dean’s list at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. ... The Kailua Library has invested in a red “kick stand,” using the cash award to its Librarian of the Year finalist Cynthia Frazer.

The stand should help shorter young-adult patrons “reach new heights,” as they say, and maybe earn their spot on a college dean’s list someday ...

Deyzha Naparan

Deyzha Naparan of Kailua has graduated from Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas ... Natasha Coelho of Kaneohe has joined the U.S. Army and reported to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for basic training ... Joshua Uelese reports for active duty March 21 at Fort Jackson, S.C. Through the Army’s Delayed Entry Program, the 2001 Kailua High graduate also qualifies for a $26,000 enlistment bonus ... Kaneohe Canoe Club paddlers Kik’s Hugho, Seth Ramolette and Aaron Abbey are headed for New Zealand this weekend to participate in the World Sprints Championships, joining with and competing against top paddlers from all over the world ... Ahuimanu singer Paula Fuga will awaken her maoli muse at 7 p.m. Friday (St. Patrick’s Day) at Kona Brewing Co. in Hawaii Kai (394-5662) ... That same Kona Brewery restaurant visits Kaneohe Monday (March 13) when Haleiwa Joe’s Chef Dan York and cookbook writer Lucy Saunders whip up four of Lucy’s tasty cooked-in-beer recipes to go with five Kona Brewing Co. ales and lagers for a Grilling with Beer party, set for 6 p.m. at the Haiku restaurant. Enjoy it all for $50 - if it’s not too late (247-6671) ... The very next day, Zoe, the occupational therapy dog-in-training at Hawaii State Hospital, will conduct a bake sale of doggy treats for the staff. Proceeds go to her favorite charity - the Hawaiian Humane Society, of course ...

Dr. Benjamin B.C. Young is hunting down early western-trained Hawaiian physicians. The Kailua doctor, who heads the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence at the UH medical school, is himself the first Hawaiian to become a psychiatrist. He also sailed on the Hokule’a a few years back and will give a talk on his research at 7:30 p.m. March 23 at the Mission Memorial Auditorium (537-6271)